Ceiling tile hanger installation



Aug. 2, 1966 A. z. BOGERT CEILING TILE HANGER INSTALLATION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 18, 1963 FIGI.

INVENTOR: ALLEN Z. BOGERT ATTYS Aug. 2, 1966 A. z. Bocal-:RT

CEILING TILE HANGER INSTALLATION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Decv 18, 1963 mvEN'ron'. ALLEN Z. BOGERT ATTVQ.

United States Patent O 3,263,388 CEILING TILE HAN GER INSTALLATIN Allen Z. Bogert, 305 Linden Ave., Doylestown, Pa. Filed Dec. 18, 1963, Ser. No. 331,615 6 Claims. (Cl. 52-665) This invention relates to a ceiling tile hanger installation, especially such as installation which provides ready adjustment for levelling the tile, and has for an object the provision of improvements in this art.

This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application, Serial No. 171,747, tiled February 7, 1962, now abandoned.

One of the particular objects of the invention is to provide mating anchor and tile-supporting elements which can be quickly installed even by an amateur of the do-it-yourself class.

Another object is to provide such an installation which holds the parts very securely after the assembly has been completed.

Another object is to provide `an installation which requires few, simple and inexpensive parts.

Another object is to provide improved means for securing strips at their ends.

Another object is to provide an improved anchor and supported elements which provide maximum connecting interaction in all relative adjusted positions.

The above and other objects of the invention as well as certain novel features and advantages of the invention will Ibe apparent from the following description of an exemplary embodiment, reference being made of the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an upward-looking isometric View of a ceiling tile hanger installation embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken on the line 2 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section taken on line 3 3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an exploded isometric view showing the parts in a pre-assembly stage;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a modified construction prior to assembly;

FIG. 6 is a vertical section and elevation of the parts of FIG. 5 after assembly;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view at a corner assembly;

FIG. 8 is a vertical section taken on the line 8 8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view similar to a portion of FIG. 7 showing one method of disassembling the structure.

In FIG. 1 the assembly is shown as Vbeing installed on parallel joists or beams 10 which here carry thereabove a iloor 11; lbut there is no inherent connection with any particular location and the beams may simply be regarded as ceiling-supporting beams. Actually, it is believed that the installation may lind its greatest use on basement ceilings. In FIG. 3 the beams are shown as having lower edges at different levels, as may be the actual situation in many cases, to bring out the advantages of the present construction -in providing a level surface at the tile tace regardless of base irregularities.

The ceiling tile which is to be installed is designated by the numeral 12. This is a well-known product in many forms, some of which are referred to as acoustical tiles.

The supporting parts with which the present invention is concerned comprise the anchor elements or parts 14 and the tile-supporting parts or elements or strips 15.

The anchor elements have one or more base tlanges 14u by which they are secured to the building structure, such as to the joists 10, as by nails 16, or the like. Holes are shown for the nails `but for many materials of which the support parts may be made, the nails may be driven through the base flanges without the need for pre-forming the holes.

3,263,388 Patented August 2, 1966 ICC l The tile-supporting parts 15 are provided with tile-bearing flanges 15a, FIG. 2 showing tiles 12 resting thereon.

rl`he member 15 have two base llanges 15a where they are required to support a tile on each side; and the members 14 preferably have langes 14a on both sides.

Both the mem-bers 14 and the members 15 have upstanding stem or web portions 14h and. 15b respectively which overlap and interlock when installed, as shown in FIG. 2. At least one of the members 14, 15 has two upstanding stem or web portions or bifurcation which embrace between them the stem or web portion of the other member. Preferably the upper or anchor member is the one that bifurcated.

It desired, both members may be bifurcated, which will make it possible to use strip stock of one kind only, reversing the strips where necessary and -cutting parts to the lengths desired.

At least one of the stem portions of both members on at least one side is provided with teeth or serrations 18 for its full length to engage a like serrated side of a mating part whereby the parts are held securely together. Preferably the serrations are inclined inwardly on one side to provide easy interengagement and provided with ledges on the other side which `are square or undercut so that they lare relatively diiicult to separate. The teeth may be described as sawtooth-like. The members 14 and 15 in the preferred form may be characterized as being T- shaped in cross section and with tongue-and-groove interfitting stem or web portions.

As seen in FIG. 1, some yof the anchor lmembers 14 run in a direction across a joist and are relatively short; and others run in a direction along the length of the joist, the latter members being shown as short in length although they might 1be longer, up to the full distance between the cross anchors. If there are differences in elevation, either along joists or between joists, the anchor members will -b made short to permit of proper levelling.

The support strips 15 may be through-running in one direction and cut to lit between through-running members in the other direction.

In making the installation, the anchor members 14 which may be cut from a strip or made of a given length are secured to the overhead supports, as by nails or the like at proper places for the dimensions of the tile 'being used. If the joists are not located at proper distrances apart it will be necessary, as usual, to provide other appropriate furring supports.

A tile is placed lon supporting flanges of members 15 by lowering it from above and the intermeshing stems of members 14 and 15 are pushed together until a proper common ceiling level, by line or otherwise, is established. If desired, the supporting strip structure can be levelled before the tiles are inserted. It may be convenient to make the initial securement with the supporting strip structure disposed as low as possible while providing supporting interengagement of the anchor and tile supporting members; then later the entire ceiling can be brought up to a common level by pushing up `on the supporting members where required.

If the lower members are bifurcated the tile material, which is usually soft at the edges, can be deformed locally to embrace the members when they `are short. When the upper members are bifurcated the tile edges may engage them and be deformed locally to embrace them. Whether there is interengagement in the latter case, as shown in FIG. 2, will depend on dimensions of the stems and tiles and the position of parts at linal securement.

It will be clear that once the installation has been made the connections will be very secure. Moreover, there will be little likelihood of the parts being forced further together at places to mar the level line at a later date since the force necessary to push the parts together is considerable and not likely to be produced by accident but only with purposeful force.

The installation can be removed by working from the sides and spreading the bifurcations enough to release the interfitting stems. Removal is not a usual consideration in such installations, however.

The parts can be made of various materials such as metals of various kinds or plastics of various kinds. At present plastics are preferred because of their low initial cost, easy manufacture, and neat appearance and serviceability in use.

In FIGS. 5-9 there is shown a modified construction in which the anchor members 14 which are secured to the joists or beams have bifurcations with outwardly bowed stems or webs 14h' having teeth 18 extending inwardly from their outer end for a considerable distance-about half their lengthbut ending above the inner end or root portion at the base flange 14a.

The tile supporting members 1S have a single flange or web 15b extending from the base flange 15a and having teeth 18' on its sides at the outer end, the teeth extending inwardly for a distance-about half the length-but ending above the lower end to leave a thin section between the teeth and the base flange. This arrangement of bowed sides and teeth near the ends of the flanges or webs provides more secure interengagement of teeth in all adjusted positions.

Another modification is that the anchor members 14 are provided with slots 2t) extending inward from their ends to receive the ends of the flanges 15b to hold them in position at the corners of the openings for tiles 12. The lower flange 15a is cut away from the end as at 21 to allow the flange 15b' to attain its joining location, the end of the flange 15a fitting against the side of a flange 15a of a member running transversely thereto so as to align therewith at the bottom surface, and the cutaway end portion of the flange 15b resting on the flange 15b of the transverse member. This is clearly shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 Where one member 15 has been pushed into position and the other member is being pushed into position.

If both ends of a cross member have to be engaged in the slots of anchor members which have already been secured in position, the cross members can be bowed sufficiently so that, in conjunction with the yieldability of the anchor members, it is easy to make the installation.

With this arrangement the cross members may not require separate anchor support members. The weight of a tile will be fully supported at its opposite ends which rest on flanges of through-running strip members so that the short cross members only need to serve as spacers and to prevent sagging of tiles between their ends.

FIG. 9 shows how a tool 22 can be inserted in the bifurcation, by entry from the side after the tile has been removed, to release the strip 1S when it is desired to remove it for any reason. Another method of removal is to twist the strip 1S back and forth sidewise while pulling down on it to release the teeth by progressive intermittent spreading and separation, first on one side, then the other.

The teeth, as before, are saw-tooth shaped, that is, sloping on the entry side and square or undercut on the holding side, so that they hold very securely when engaged except when purposely removed by special operations.

As before, the tile edge in most cases embraces the bifurcations to hold its flanges together and, when the anchor mmbers are short the tile may be pressed in to form the recesses needed to make the fit thereby increasing the side pressure on the flanges of the bifurcation.

It is thus seen that the invention provides a simple, inexpensive and easily installed assembly which can be levelled quickly with the tiles in supported position.

The adjustment is frictional. There are no bolts or other semi-permanent or permanent fasteners to fasten and unfasten. The fasteners, although springy, are usually confined between the edges of the tiles to make the final engagement and disengagement harder than the first engaging movement; however, by proper manipulationl and a simple pry tool the parts can be sprung apart for release without requiring wrenches and other tools which are harder and slower to use. The saw-tooth type teeth assure easy-on hard-off securement which aids greatly in quick installation by unskilled workmen and resists tampering and inadvertent displacement.

While certain embodiments have been described for purposes of illustration, it is to be understood that there may be various embodiments and modifications within the general scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A ceiling tile installation capable of providing a level tile surface with permissible support variation in level of considerable magnitude, comprising parallel support beams with permissible variation in level along the beams and from one beam to another,

laterally short tile anchor members on each beam where the sides of a tile are to fall, and

tile support members running at least the length of one side of a Itile for supporting the tile on said anchor members,

each said tile anchor member having a base flange secured to said support beam and a stern extending directly `outward from the base flange, said stern having a plurality of saw-tooth serrations on at least one side surface,

each said tile support member having a base flange for supporting tiles and a stem having a plurality of saw-tooth serrations on a side mating with the serrations of the anchor member, at least one of said members having a second stem parallel to and cooperable with the serrated stem to confine the stem of the mating part therebetween, at least one of said parallel stems being flexibly biased toward the other so as to resiliently retain said serrations interengaged, Y

said serrations being inclined to resist separation of said base flanges, providing retaining engagement of various adjusted levels of said tile,

each said tile support member being interengaged with a plurality of said short tile anchor members, the level of said interengagement varying along at least one tile in accordance with the variation in level of the beams along said tile, the spacing between the base flange of said support member and the base flange of at least one anchor member being greater than the thickness of said tile.

2. A ceiling tile installation capable of providing a level tile surface with permissible support variation in level of considerable magnitude, comprising parallel support beams with permissible variation in level along the beams and from one beam to another, laterally short tile anchor members secured across each of two adjacent beams where the ends of a tile are to fall,

laterally short tile anchor members on each beam between said end anchor members aligned with the length of the beam where the sides of a tile are to fall, and

tile support members running at least the length of one side of a tile for supporting the tile on said anchor members,

each said tile anchor member having a base flange secured to said support beam and a stem extending directly outward from the base flange, said stem having a plurality of saw-tooth serrations on at 16,215.1 one side surface,

each said tile support member having a base ange for supporting tiles and a stem having a plurality of saw-tooth serrations on a side mating with the serrations of the anchor member,

at least one of said members having `a second stem parallel to and cooperable with the serrated stem to confine the stem of the mating part therebetween, at least one of said parallel stems being flexibly biased toward the other so as to resiliently retain said serrations interengaged,

said serrations being inclined to resist separation of said base anges, providing retaining engagement at various adjusted levels of said tile,

each said tile support member being interengaged with a plurality of said short tile anchor members, the level of said interengagement varying along at least one tile in accordance with the variation in level of the beams along said tile, the spacing between the base flange of said support member and the base flange of at least one anchor member being greater than the thickness of said tile.

3. A ceiling tile installation according to claim 2 wherein said stems are elongated and interengaged Within the thickness of the tile.

4. A ceiling tile installation according to claim 2 wherein said anchor member has the second stem and is formed so that the stems are bowed outwardly in the middle, said tile support member having a single stem.

5. A ceiling tile installation according to claim 4 wherein at least one of the stems of the anchor member is provided with an elongated slot perpendicular to said base ange disposed in said outwardly bowed middle portion and extending through the free end of said stem to receive the end of the stem of a crossing `tile supporting member for vertical adjustment in said slot.

6. A ceiling tile installation as set forth in claim 5, in which the base flange of the crossing tile supporting member is cut away at the end to t against the edge of the base flange of another tile supporting member when its stem flange is positioned in the slot of the anchor member which supports said other tile supporting member.

References Cited by the Examiner FOREIGN PATENTS 7/ 1956 Australia. 8/1961 Germany.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner.

R. S. VERMUT, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A CEILING TILE INSTALLATION CAPABLE OF PROVIDING A LEVEL TILE SURFACE WITH PERMISSIBLE SUPPORT VARIATION IN LEVEL OF CONSIDERABLE MAGNITUDE, COMPRISING PARALLEL SUPPORT BEAM WITH PERMISSIBLE VARIATION IN LEVEL ALONG THE BEAMS AND FROM ONE BEAM TO ANOTHER, LATERALLY SHORT TILE ANCHOR MEMBERS ON EACH BEAM WHERE THE SIDES OF A TILE ARE TO FALL, AND TILE SUPPORT MEMBERS RUNNING AT LEAST THE LENGTH OF ONE SIDE OF A TILE FOR SUPPORTING THE TILE ON SAID ANCHOR MEMBERS, EACH SAID TILE ANCHOR MEMBER HAVING A BASE FLANGE SECURED TO SAID SUPPORT BEAM AND A STEM EXTENDING DIRECTLY OUTWARD FROM THE BASE FLANGE, SAID STEM HAVING A PLURALITY OF SAW-TOOTH SERRATIONS ON AT LEAST ONE SIDE SURFACE, EACH SAID TILE SUPPORT MEMBER HAVING A BASE FLANGE FOR SUPPORTING TILES AND A STEM HAVING A PLURALITY OF SAW-TOOTH SERRATIONS ON A SIDE MATING WITH THE SERRATIONS OF THE ANCHOR MEMBER, AT LEAST ONE OF SAID MEMBERS HAVING A SECOND STEM PARALLEL TO AND COOPERABLE WITH THE SERRATED STEM TO CONFINE THE STEM OF THE MATING PART THEREBETWEEN, AT LEAST ONE OF SAID PARALLEL STEMS BEING FLEXIBLY BIASED TOWARD THE OTHER SO AS TO RESILIENTLY RETAIN SAID SERRATIONS INTERENGAGED, SAID SERRATIONS BEING INCLINED TO RESIST SEPARATION OF SAID BASE FLANGES, PROVIDING RETAINING ENGAGEMENT OF VARIOUS ADJUSTED LEVELS OF SAID TILE, EACH SAID TILE SUPPORT MEMBER BEING INTERENGAGED WITH A PLURALITY OF SAID SHORT TILE ANCHOR MEMBERS, THE LEVEL OF SAID INTERENGAGEMENT VARYING ALONG AT LEAST ONE TILE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE VARIATION IN LEVEL OF THE BEAMS ALONG SAID TILE, THE SPACING BETWEEN THE BASE FLANGE OF SAID SUPPORT MEMBER AND THE BASE FLANGE OF AT LEAST ONE ANCHOR MEMBER BEING GREATER THAN THE THICKNESS OF SAID TILE. 